February 2025–January 2026
Location
George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) – Terminal D, 2800 N Terminal Rd, Houston, TX 77032
Hillerbrand+Magsamen’s 147 Devices for Integrated Principles at IAH Terminal D features 27 images from the original series. The images transform everyday objects into profound reflections on the absurdity, intimacy, and challenges of modern life. The project originated in 2017 during Hurricane Harvey, when the artists prepared a “hurricane box” of essential survival items. After the disaster passed, they realized that feelings of being overwhelmed persisted, fueled by external pressures like divisive politics, a strained healthcare system, and economic challenges. Those feelings inspired the creation of “devices” to navigate emotional and existential struggles, using items like toys, spatulas, and laundry hampers. Blending humor, performance, and a playful Dada-Fluxus spirit, the exhibition invites viewers to reflect on the devices we create to cope with life’s absurdities and complexities. In this public setting, the images offer a moment of connection and contemplation amid the transient, busy environment of the airport.
Stephan Hillerbrand and Mary Magsamen are a collaborative husband-and-wife team based out of Houston, Texas. Their interdisciplinary practice spans video, photography, installation, sculpture, and performance. Blending elements of reality and imagination, their work investigates familial and societal relationships, often featuring members of their own family. They embrace humor, playfulness, and experimentation, reimagining their physical environments to critique daily life, consumerism, and domesticity.
Their work has been exhibited at prominent museums such as The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit; the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York; The Portland Museum of Art, Oregon; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. They have received awards and grants from distinguished organizations such as the Sustainable Arts Foundation, San Francisco, California; Austin Film Society, Texas; Houston Arts Alliance, Texas; and the Mid America Arts Alliance, Kansas City, Missouri. Residency programs include the MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, New Hampshire; the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council residency at the Woolworth Building, New York; Wassaic Projects, New York; the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont; and the Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico.
147 Devices for Integrated Principles is organized by FotoFest, Houston in collaboration with Houston Airports for display at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Terminal D. A selection from 147 Devices for Integrated Principles was previously featured in the FotoFest Biennial 2022 exhibition, Ten by Ten: Ten Reviewers Select Ten Portfolios from the Meeting Place 2020–21. The Terminal D installation of 147 Devices for Integrated Principles will run concurrently with a mid-career survey of the artists’ work, Hillerbrand+Magsamen: nothing is precious, everything is game, on view at Silver Street Studios from October 1 through November 15, 2025. This project will be FotoFest’s second cultural collaboration with the Houston Airport System.
For press information, interviews, or images, please contact Asaeda Badat, Manager of Communications and Engagement, at press@fotofest.org.
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